No Salah, no Salah, no Salah, running down the wing. The words might as well ring out in the style of the Kop’s favourite song, like a red alert around Anfield. With Liverpool the Premier League’s somewhat surprising leaders after a topsy-turvy half-season, could Mohamed Salah’s sojourn at the Africa Cup of Nations provide hope for their rivals and another twist in the title race?
Jürgen Klopp donned a furrowed brow when the topic was tabled as he looked forward to Monday’s visit of Newcastle, lamenting Salah’s absence not quite with the fury he directs at Saturday lunchtime schedulers but with a sigh and a shrug. Of Liverpool’s three defeats in all competitions this season, only one came with Salah in the side and that was when they were down to nine men at Tottenham.
“It’s a really average situation,” was the politest way Klopp could couch his frustration. Sure, Wataru Endo’s concurrent absence to Asian Cup duty with Japan exacerbates things, but it is the loss of a player who has topped Liverpool’s goalscoring chart for six successive seasons – and is on course for a seventh – that causes consternation for Klopp.
Perhaps there are reasons not to feel so despondent. The previous occasion the Egyptian departed for a mid-season Afcon during his six-and-a-half-year spell at Liverpool, in January 2022, Liverpool coped remarkably well, winning seven of eight matches without Salah and Senegal’s Sadio Mané, a run that included a two-legged League Cup semi-final victory over Arsenal.
It was in 2016-17, before Salah’s arrival, that Liverpool felt the effects of the Cup of Nations as they lost the influential Mané for seven matches and won once. The 2019 Afcon was played in June and July.
Klopp denied the existence of any long-term sans-Salah plan and will instead rely on a piecemeal approach, with players stepping in when required. Diogo Jota’s return from a hamstring injury is nicely timed in that regard, but to expect anyone to match Salah’s impact from the right wing is ambitious. Some have suggested his influence is on the wane but 16 goals in all competitions this season were double that of the club’s next highest scorer until Jota netted at Burnley, taking his tally to nine.
“We knew from time to time the Africa Cup of Nations appears and Mo has to go and that was always clear,” says Klopp. “Each long-term plan I could have had depends massively on who is available. So why should I think in October who I can use when Mo is away, when I have no clue who is available? We could have solutions today and I hope we have them after the Newcastle game as well.”
In 2021-22, it was Jota who stepped up. His two goals at the Emirates sealed passage to the League Cup final at Wembley, where they beat Chelsea on penalties en route to a possible (but ultimately unreachable) quadruple. Jota ended that season with 21 goals in all competitions, a reliable and potent deputy behind Salah (31 goals) and Mané (23). It is hoped the Portuguese, whom Klopp praised for his “football brain” but who has critics among Liverpool fans, will come to the fore once again.
“He’s a very smart footballer,” says Klopp. “He understands the game particularly well. I really think Portugal is blessed with some of these players, who understand the game on a different level and he’s one of them. It lets him see situations and adapt to the opponent a bit quicker. On top of that, he’s both-footed and a great finisher.”
There are three other members of Liverpool’s “famous five” on whom Klopp will hope to lean more heavily. Darwin Núñez continues to lurch dramatically between tags marked “world-class” and “expensive flop” though the reality is somewhere in the middle. Cody Gakpo and Luis Díaz are fine footballers but can do more. Harvey Elliott could even slot into an advanced role, as the club’s only attack-minded left-footer aside from Salah.
Liverpool’s January fixtures at least give them some space to breathe. After Newcastle on New Year’s Day, there are two other Premier League games (against Bournemouth and Chelsea) and a two-legged League Cup semi-final against Fulham, plus Arsenal in the FA Cup third round and a potential fourth-round tie. Arsenal and Burnley follow in the league in early February, but Salah could be back by then depending on his country’s progress. The Egyptian King’s return simply cannot come soon enough.
